Even with the Avengers were spread across the globe, they still kept in contact through their comm units, even though there wasn't much to say.
Clint was now officially stuck to long range sniping with a sniper rifle. He'd gotten his arm broken the day before.
Sam's wings were barely at a functional level.
Cap's shoulders ached, one from the constant hurling of his shield, the other, because he had dislocated it (and his knee) earlier. The pain was constant, and exhausting.
Natasha lay on a bed, breathing as deeply as her three broken ribs would allow. The blow to the head she'd taken hadn't helped much either.
Tony's suit was breaking down, full of dents, and peppered with shrapnel.
Vision was constantly blazing monsters, but it seemed to do little among the hordes.
Wanda was nearly delirious, but still, she struggled to protect the civilians.
Thor had been smashed into the dirt several times, and there was a slice above his eyebrow dripping blood into his eyes.
All in all, the Avengers, and the world, was losing.
There was no fixed point where the draugr were originating. They just crawled out of the dirt wherever the heck they felt like. The creatures were incredibly tough, withstanding a lot of damage before they fell to pieces, and they didn't seem to get tired, although they were much slower during the day than at night.
The Avengers were losing all hope that they could win this war. It seemed an endless battle. Unless someone came up with a miracle, the world was going to die.
Merlin had somehow come up with a miracle. Now the only question was whether or not he could actually do it.
He was in Europe, standing beside the Lake of Avalon. Actually, it was more like he was swaying. Merlin was exhausted, the poison in his veins burning through him.
The lake was peaceful, starlight reflecting off the water. It was a strange contrast against the chaos in the rest of the world. Merlin stared out at the water. It was very likely he would die sometime in the nest twenty-four hours. He was glad that he could visit this special place one last time.
Merlin trudged forward into the dark ripples. The water was cold, slowly soaking through his body armor. It made Merlin shiver even more than he already was.
When the water was thigh deep, Merlin sank to his knees, head drooping with exhaustion. He let his hands float across the surface of the water, enjoying the cool feel of it. Merlin's whole body was tingling.
Merlin concentrated on the tingling, and took a deep breath. This was going to suck. Big time.
Merlin sat in the water for two pain-filled hours, shoving his consciousness at the block covering his magic.
It hurt. It hurt worse than anything Merlin had ever felt, stinging, and burning like fire. Merlin wondered if this was what it felt like to be burned at the stake.
The vibranium block around his magic was the most stubborn thing Merlin had ever felt. It moved like a liquid, slipping around his probes, and was solid as steel when Merlin tried to break through it was force.
He was gasping and sweating, and he could feel bile bubbling in the back of his throat, when somehow, impossibly, Merlin felt a tiny sliver of his consciousness touch his magic. It was only a pinprick, but it would have to be enough. There was no second chance in this catastrophe.
Merlin dragged at the speck of magic, painfully forcing it to bend to his will.
Merlin sent his tiny magical probe into the waters of the lake he was sitting in, searching. He breathed a sigh of relief when the magic of Avalon responded, softly brushing against him, soothing a portion of his pain.
A plume of bright power made Merlin blink in the brightening dawn. A figure stepped out of a rift in the light, and strode toward Merlin.
Freya pulled Merlin's forehead against her own and smiled. "My hero," she said, giving him a gentle kiss.
"Freya," Merlin murmured, closing his eyes and smiling. "I love you."
"And I you," Freya told him. "But we do not have the time right now. Avalon is opening, but your reinforcements need a constant well of magic to survive, much like Nimeuh and Morgana. Do you have the strength for this?"
Merlin nodded resolutely. "I must, or the world will die. Send them out."
Freya kissed him one last time, then faded away.
One figure tumbled out of the rift, unceremoniously splashing into the lake. Merlin grinned at the colorful curses coming from the voice that he missed oh, so much.
"Merlin!"
It was Arthur's shout, one born of habits that he hadn't cared to break.
Arthur was clothed in armor, but not the metal plate armor or even chainmail of Camelot; instead, he was outfitted much like Merlin, with heavy black body armor and a helmet, although Excalibur was sheathed across his back.
Arthur was still as regal as ever.
Arthur hurried forward, pulling Merlin from his position in the water. Arthur embraced Merlin, joyful laughter spilling from his mouth.
"Merlin!" Arthur cried, releasing Merlin and clasping his shoulders.
Merlin grinned deliriously through his pain. This might just be the best moment of his life.
Arthur glanced Merlin over. "Heavens Merlin!" Arthur cried, helping Merlin toward the lake's shore. "What happened?"
Merlin smiled tiredly. "A problem with magic," he rasped. "One that you and I have to fix."
Merlin explained everything that had happened with the Avengers as Arthur and Merlin tromped back toward the Quin-jet. He explained about SHIELD's paranoia, the fights with the Avengers, the triumphs, and finally, the last few days.
"Morgana, Nimueh, and an insane god?" Arthur cursed. "That can't be good."
"Well," Merlin said, "Considering that the world is being overrun with undead warriors, it definitely isn't good. Not to mention the fact that I can't even access my magic at the moment."
"That is a problem," Arthur said, slicing through the thick brush with his sword. "How are we going to fix this?"
"The Avengers are trying to keep the damage contained," Merlin explained, panting, sweat slicking his face. "We have to find Morgana and her friends and destroy them. We'll probably have to lure them out of hiding by using me as bait. Otherwise, they'll just wait until everyone is dead, then casually take over the world."
"We can't use you as bait!" Arthur protested. "Look at you. Even if you have muscled up a bit, they'd still crush you like a twig without you're magic. That's a terrible idea! Now where is this 'Quin-jet' that you spoke of?"
"It should be just there," Merlin said, pointing to the black hull of the Quin-jet, glittering darkly through the trees.
"What the hell is that?" Arthur squawked, stopping short, forcing Merlin to stop as well.
"That," Merlin said, grinning, "is the future."
The King of Camelot was very uncomfortable in the air. One look out the Quin-jet's window had Arthur turning white. Arthur and Merlin were buckled tightly into the Quin-jet's pilot and co-pilot seats. Merlin was as relaxed as he could be while his head felt like it was about to implode, but Arthur had a death grip on all the handles he could reach.
"Are we almost there?" Arthur gritted out.
Merlin glanced back from his spot in the pilot's chair. "Another few minutes," Merlin told his companions. "We'll be there soon."
"Good," Arthur growled tightly. "Because I feel like stabbing something right now."
"You get used to things such as this," Merlin told Arthur, trying to keep the exhausted tremor out of his voice. "This day in age is very strange. You'll see."
Stonehenge was beautiful, but to the duo walking to its center, it seemed haunted.
"Stonehenge is one of the places where the Asgardian's dimensional bridge, the Bifrost, has touched down," Merlin said, leaning heavily on his companion as the pair moved into the center of the circle of stones. "The magical energy here is strong enough to call to Morgana, Nimueh, and Loki."
Merlin sat on the grass, panting. The pull of sustaining Arthur's half-life while his magic was being blocked with vibranium was setting his head spinning, and eyes blurry. "I've called the Avengers," Merlin mumbled. "They should be here just in time. The army can take care of any remaing draugr."
"Are you sure that you'll be all right, Merlin?" Arthur asked, crouching in front of Merlin.
"Oh, yeah," Merlin said, flippantly waving a hand. "I've got this. I'll be fine. Now get out of here. I'm going to call for them."
"I know that you're skilled, Merlin," Arthur said. "But are you sure that you can do this?"
Merlin's cobalt blue eyes met Arthur's sky-colored ones. "Honestly?" Merlin asked. "No. I have no idea if I'll be able to do this. But if we fail, the world dies. We have to win."
Arthur studied Merlin for a few seconds, then smiled sadly, nodded, and hurried back to the Quin-jet to have FRIDAY ready the Quin-jet's weapons. (FRIDAY had almost convinced Arthur that she was a helpful ghost. Merlin had no idea that an artificial intelligence could have such a mischievous streak.)
Merlin took a breath, prayed that the Avengers would make it on time, and pressed his hands against the ground.
Dragging out another string of magic to use, Merlin sent the tiny trickle into the ground, and sent his consciousness with it.
Amplifying his mental voice as much as he could, Merlin sent a cry reverberating through the earth.
"MORGANA!"
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-Indigene Syke